Means for hanging bacon



Nov. 21, 1933. J. E. covEY MEANS FOR HANGING BACON Filed Oct. 5, 1931 JO/ f. Con/gy |NvENToR v ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 21, 1933 J clin E. Covey, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Swift and Company, Chicago,

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Ill., a corporation'of 111i-l Y Applicationcctobe; 5,1931. serial N01 566355` pzclaimsg (en 12x-44) The invention relates to a means for hanging bacon.v

, The-object of the present in vention is to .pro-V vide simple, practical and `efficient. means of 5 strong, durable and comparatively inexpensive construction adapted for hanging slabs of bacon for smoking, -curingand storingwithout mutilatf,

ing the belly end of the sideor slab with hook holes, thereby eliminating the Waste to the dealer which these holes create;

,A further object ofthe inventionis to. provide for suspending slabs of bacon a method and l means which will not only eliminate theY aforesaid Waste, but which will effectually prevent `curling of .the slab of bacon whilek processing' the The present invention While Vdesigned.particularlyv for VAthe production ci skinned bacon is equally applicable to the production of bacon upon which the skin ispermitted to r ventional bacon of comme isvproduc'ed by curing and off'the hog carcass knovvnas the belly,

produced from each hog.. 1 Bacon is marketed in either'the slabor sliced.

of bacon being emain. The conas is Wellknotvn,

lsmoking that portion tWo sides Much of the baconproduced in uthe packing house is sliced and packed in the packing house,V being shipped bythe 'packinghouse to largeA quantity consumers or 4retailers) v Sliced bacon must be pro immediate use Wit consumer.A

duced in condition for hout further trimming by the, lInasmuch asthe Yskin orv rind is inedibl'e by reason of its toughness, it must be removed before the ordinarilyv sold by out removrng the bacon is sliced. Slabbracon is thepacker to the retailer Withskin Which is permitted `toremain Vto protect thebacon and minimize the Weight losses.

A Usuallythe skinn d bellies areskinned before curing in orderA that use may be made ofV the skin, but may be removed eitherbefore or after smoking. I n conventional packing house practice, Whetherv or not hanger ortoothed instru the hanger,

the skin is; removed, a vcomb l ment is attached to one end of the product by insertingthe vnail-like teeth of the hanger entirely through the product, the product then -being suspended in smokel by as it is necessary that the product V be Well secured in order to withstand the ordinary handling` in processing.Y Suchinsertion of vthe teeth of a -`comb of the belly results inunsightl f the grading, downgand some perhaps onepound on each belly.-L

- In ordinary commercial practice,

hanger entirely through one end y holes whichcause times utterl loss of large scale retailers offbacon purchase skinned bellies inthe slab `form from thepacker Vand regularly return and receive credit y,ier-f ther endy ih rOugh which the teethhave been inserted. i Y y i Such returned product must be'disposed vof by 60v thepacker atA a greatly reduced price.- This is a considerable item inasmuch Aas a considerable quantity of bacon is sliced at the packing-house orby large scale retailers.V r

The present invention .avoids vsuch .unsightly holes inthe product ingboth` skinned andfunskinned bellies and in the preferred-form of the invention, ,asy practiced in connectionl `with skinned, bellies, all ofthe skinis removed vvvth the Vexception, of a narrow strip about one inch Wide across one endv of the slab; of bacon,ywhere by theslab may loe-suspended by the method and means of thepresent invention lfor smoking, curing or storing Withoutin anyway darnagingthe product-Whichisllaterto be'sliced. Y, Q

v With these and otherobjects in vievv, the vlin.- Vention consists in the construction and novel combination andarrangement of parts. hereinafter described, illustrated inthe accompanying drawing, and pended, it being understood that variousl changes inthe form, proportion and minor details oi construction,lwithin the scope ofthe claims,fmay be resorted to Without departing from thenspirit ofV the `invention or sacriiicing any of the ladyan-i g5 tagesthereof. i .Y 1 Y In the drawingc- -v i Figure 1 is a perspective'viewofa bacon hang-` er constructed in accordance-with thel present Y invention; and shown applied to^a f slab of bacon 90 and viewedfrom the skinned side thereof.

i Fig.V 3 isa perspective view-'of the hanger and slab, thecloth being kremoved Vto-'illustrate g5' clearly the-arrangement of the skewer. Y, f Referring to the drawing in which vsi-llustrated the preferred embodiment :of vthe invention,A 1 designates a belly or vbacon slab having all of the skin removed With the, exception oi `a narrow strip 190 2 about one inch Wide extendingv acrossthe slab l-at one end thereof,.-fhenarrovvl stripr` v2is slit at'intervals to form'narrowr,ribbon-like cuts 3 to fpermit a skeWer 4 of vva; hanger 5 to be' laced through theA said narrow strip 2.-The c uts 3 105 which are vertical are preferably located, adjacent theends of the strip 2 and in pairs atv intervals intermediate the ends of the strip to providepnarrow vertically disposed partially severedportions 6 beneath which the sk eWer eisjpassed so that 110 set for-th inthe claims-'hereto aprf 80A `of the skewer 4.

the major portion of the skewer will lie exteriorly of the narrow strip 2 of skin and a minimum portion of the skewer will be permitted to come in contact with the edible portion of the slab 1.

The hanger 5 and the skewer 4 which constitutes the bottom supporting portion ofthe hanger are formed from a single piece of stout wire or other suitable material which is doubled and bent intermediate of its ends to form a supporting hook 7 composed of two sides which are twisted together at the shank portion 8 of the supporting hook. The wire is extended outwardly and downwardly from the lower end of the shank 8 to form supporting arms 9 and 10 and the lower terminal portion of the hanger arm 9 is bent backward on itself into approximately U-shape to form a keeper 11 for the free end of the skewer of the safety-pin hanger.

The wire which is resilient is partially coiled or bent at the lower or outer end of the other hangerarm 10 to form a spring loop 12 and it is then extended across the bottom of the hanger to provide the said skewer 4of the safety-pin hanger. The skewer 4 of the safety-pin hanger hasits free terminal portion 13 pointed to enable it to be. readily passedthrough the hard portion of the fatty tissue in rear of or beneath the narrow strip 2of skin and the resiliency of the spring loop 12 of the safety pin hanger maintains the pointed terminal portion-13 in engagement with the keeper 11. Also the weight of the slab when suspended by the hanger will maintain the skewer or pin portion in engagement with the keeper.

The skewer 4 which is straight provides a form formaintaining the slab of bacon flat or straight while the bacon is being processed or cured and the belly Vor'rslab is maintained firmly against the straight skewer 4 by means of a fabric binding member 14 preferably consisting of a strip of coarse woven cloth similar to regular ham sling cloth, but any other suitable fabric or woven material may, of course, be employedas a binding member for holding the belly or slab of bacon firmly against a straight skewer to prevent curlingor distortion while curing or processing the slab or belly.

' The flexible fabric 14 passes around the lean side ofthe slab and across the side edges thereof and V has'its terminal portions extended across the skin side of the slab and preferably secured together at the center thereof by knotting as shown at 15, but any othersuitable fastening means may, of course, be employed and if desired, the-terminals of the fabric may be fastened to the side portions of the hanger. In the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawing, the terminal portions of the flexible binding fabric extend along the strip 2 centrally thereof in front The saidl terminal portions which extend along the strip 2 of skin are preferably narrower than the main body portion which passes around the lean side of the slab.

The body portion of the binding and clamping fabric is provided with a top marginal portion 16 arranged upon the upper end of the slab of bacon at the leanv side and side edges thereof so that thefabric 'binding and Yclamping member partially encases the upper end of the slab and is adapted to firmly clamp the slab against the skewer which operates as a form or straightening bar whereby curling or-distortion of the belly or slab of baconwhile curing is effectually prevented.` u n It will thus lbe seen that the device of YtheV present invention enables the bacon to be suspended for smoking, curing and storing without mutilating or otherwise injuring the end of the bacon and at the same time enables the bacon to be cured or processed without curling as the straight skewer and fabric binding member cooperate in maintaining the belly or slab of bacon in a flat condition while the bacon is suspended.

The labor incident to severing. the strip'2 of skin from the slab of bacon is very small and this strip 2 of skin may, of course, be removed when the bacon is sliced. Any suitable means may, of course, be provided for making cuts 3 in the narrow strip 2.

The safety-pin skewer hanger and fabric binding member Vwhile' designed particularly for skinned slabs of bacon having narrow strips of skin at one end may, of course, be employed for hanging unskinned slabs of bacon provided with the cuts 3 arranged at one end of the slab in the position illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawing. f

While the fabric binding'member is shown applied to a hanger having an integral skewer it will be readily understood that the fabric binding and clamping member is equally applicable to any form of hanger having a skewer, whether or not the latter is integral with the hanger. In the form of the-invention illustrated in the accompanying drawing, the fabric binding member crosses the side edges of the slab above the skewer and is carried by the'hanger as the skewer thereof will effectually prevent ,the fabric from being displaced by any downward movementof the fabric onI the slab. Y

From what has preceded and also from an inspection of the drawing it will be noted that an assemblage of abacon slab and associated hanger is effectively employed during the treatment, curing and handling of bacon slabs and that in this f assemblage according to certain aspects of the invention the bacon slab is partially dehided or derinded, while according to-other aspects of the invention the bacon slabv is not necessarily dehided toany extent. Inv order that the upper portion of the bacon slab will be properly shaped 320 and maintained in proper shapethere is brought into the assemblage the flexible fabric 14 Vwhich serves the function of shaping the upper end of the slab and of insuring a clamping effect of the upper end of the slab against the long straight 1 skewer or pin member. It will also be noted that a further advantage exists in the assemblage, particularly in the instance where only a narrow strip of hide or rind is left at the upper end of the slab in that the clamping effect of this band can be relied upon for preventing a tearing away of the narrow strip of hide from the fatty portion of the slab thus insuring a properrassemblage of the hanger in respect to the slab during all desired treatment or handling of the slab. This flexible fabric 14 is knotted as at 15, whereby a tight band results. It will also be noted that this band extends the' full width of the bacon slab along the rear upper portion thereof thence forwardly along an upper edge or side portion of the slab outside of the lower end ofhanger or supporting arm 10-and in fact above the outwardly extending loop 12 by which the skewer or pin member 4 is integrally connected to the lower end of arm 10-, thence transversely along the skin at the skewer receiving or engaging section thereof thence over the free end of the skewer or pin member under or'inside ofthe lower end of the hanger or supporting arm 9 across the upper lll() side end or edge of the slab thus completing the band and it will be noted that the positioning. of the lower end of the arm 10 under this fabric band serves to position the hanger in reference to the slab whereby any tendency for shifting ofthe hanger and the skewer or pin member thereof relative to the slab is avoided.

What is claimed is: i

l. In the preparing and treating of bacon slabs, the assemblage comprising. a slab of bacon, a safety-pin type of hanger, and a fabric band; said slab of bacon-being dehided except for a narrow transversely vextending strip of hide that is left at the upperend: of the slab and said strip being provided along a central `transversely extending section with vertically extending spaced slits arranged so as to leave a line of narrow ribbon-like loop providing skin sections, the ends of each loop being integral with the skin above and below the slits; the safety-pin type of hanger having a supporting hook at `the top, supporting arms depending fromand spreading outwardly from said hook, and a skewer or pin member integral with the lower end of one of 4 said depending arms and connected therewith through the medium of a loop portion that eX- tends outwardly beyond a downwardlyextending section of the supporting arm, lthe other supporting arm having at the lower end thereof a reversely bent section providing a hook for the reception of the free end'of the skewer or pin member; and said assemblage the skewer or pin member being threaded under the loops but positionedV so that except for said looped portions the skewer or pin member engages the outer side of the skin section; the fabric band being arranged so as to tightly encircle the upper end of the slab and so that itlextends along the upper meat section of the slabslightly overlapping the upper end of the slab-thence across` an upper outer side portion of thel slab outside of one of said depending supporting arms and above the outwardly extending loop connection between said last mentioned supporting arm and the skewer or pin member connected thereto,

thence along the outside ofthe upper skin side of the slab, thence above theA free end of the pin and 'finally across the other upper outer side portion of the slab.

2. In the treatment of bacon slabs the assemblage which comprises a bacon slab, a safety-pin type of Askewer hanger, anda fabric band encircling the'upper end section of the slab; said slab having thereupon at least a portion of the hide or rind, which hide in the region of the upper end of the slab isvertically slitted so as to leave loop providing sections, the ends of which loop providing sections are integral with the hideV above and below the slits which safety-pin type of skewer'hanger comprises a supporting portion 'having spaced depending supporting arms,

support of the free end of the skewer or pin member; said skewer or pin member being posi-` tioned so as to extend under Vsaid loop providing portions and in a manner whereby a substantial portion of a skewer or pin extends along the outside of thel skin at the sides of vsaid loop portions; the woven fabric band being arranged so as to extend across the-inner l0r meat side of a slab, across the upper edge portions of the slab and across the outer or hide side of the slab, Ysaid fabric being positioned and being secured Suniciently tight to effect a iirm retention of the upper end of the slab towards and against the skewer. f

JOHN COVEY.

the reception and 100 l 

